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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Powers That Be

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the 'powers' that live in this community and steal away the lives and joy of the people in Ocean View. Some of it is prompted by a the news of a friend who has gone back to a life of drugs and almost abandoned his family. Also, I recently saw an amazing movie (rated NC-17 - yikes, not for the faint of heart) called 'Requiem for a Dream'. It came out in 2000, and just came on the tv one night and drew me in. This is a description of it:

Drugs. They consume mind, body and soul. Once you're hooked, you're hooked. Four lives. Four addicts. Four failures. Despite their aspirations of greatness, they succumb to their addictions. Watching the addicts spiral out of control, we bear witness to the dirtiest, ugliest portions of the underworld addicts reside in. It is shocking and eye-opening but demands to be seen by both addicts and non-addicts alike.

This quote is written about a Hollywood block-buster movie, but it could be written about the people in Ocean View. Except it wouldn't say 'four' addicts but 'hundreds' of addicts just right here. It is terrifying and tragic to watch drugs tear apart the lives of people you love. Kyle and Keegan have been spending more and more time at our house, and while Kyle goes to school during the day, Keegan is made to follow his drug-addict mother around Ocean View as she delivers alcohol to feed her habit. Keegan walks by our home and shouts 'Hi Sarah!' to us, and my heart hurts for him. It's not fair. It's a demon, these drugs, and it grabs a hold of people and robs them of life. But it doesn't just affect them, it affects everyone they love. Today I was asked by Granny's sister, Neta, who goes to the Baptist church, to visit a family where the dad has been addicted for years and it's tearing apart everyone. It's ripping apart this community. It's darkness in one of it's rawest and most evil forms. All I can do is continue to believe that Jesus IS the LIGHT of the world and can even pierce through and overcome the darkness of drugs. Come Jesus come.

This is a blog to update you on all that is happening in the Prince world! We are Casey, Sarah, and baby Kieren serving as missionaries from the United States in Cape Town, South Africa. We are sharing life, love, and all God is teaching us through this crazy journey. Thanks for coming along!